conductive compound water cooling???

[sun_akaffck]

hi a week ago i bought a new water cooling for my cpu and have been using mx-2 thermal compound ,but recently heard that water cooling need conductive compound that is cooler master icefusion etc that any one tell me coz i cant get the temps as i expected using q6600 @3.4 idle temps 38 38 32 37 but at load prime 95 for 40 min 68 67 63 67. so can any one help me with it

[Neuromancer]

More likely it is you water cooling setup.

If this is a pre-fabricated kit, it probably just is not capable of handling the heat output of a quad core



You can improve your cooling a degree or two by using a better thermal compund. All thermal compounds better be heat conductive.... so not sure what the questions is. (unless you are asking about an electrically conductive compund, that would be a big no no)

[BioTuned]

some is definitely wrong with your water cooling setup. All thermal compounds are heat conductive. MX-2 is a pretty good TIM. What is your water cooling setup?

[axis01]

hi a week ago i bought a new water cooling for my cpu and have been using mx-2 thermal compound ,but recently heard that water cooling need conductive compound that is cooler master icefusion etc that any one tell me coz i cant get the temps as i expected using q6600 @3.4 idle temps 38 38 32 37 but at load prime 95 for 40 min 68 67 63 67. so can any one help me with it

You don't use conductive thermal compound as it will conduct electricity, which is a bad thing. MX-2 is fine. As stated earlier, what cooling setup do you have? It's more than likely you have a problem with your setup or it just isn't up to par to deal with the heat output of a quad.

Axis

[sun_akaffck]

i have a aquagate s1

[gangaskan]

are you applying the mx-2 correctly? there are special instructions for quaddies if i recall.

[muddocktor]

i have a aquagate s1

I just looked up that system and sorry to say, but I think that it's just not up to the task of cooling a quad processor. And from reading the Coolermaster literature, it uses a copper block but an aluminum radiator, which is a no no for most people here. You have to run antifreeze or another fluid with corrosion inhibitors in it to minimize electrolysis damage from dissimilar metals in the loop. And it uses a single fan radiator, which IMO is just too small for cooling a quad. According to the Coolermaster specs, it is only designed to handle 120 watts of heat and an overclocked quad can easily get to 200 watts of heat load.

[Bigdogbmx]

Axis, surely most decent thermal compouns are conductive. Arctic silver is about 99% silver so I cant see it being an insulator. As long as you dont spread the stuff on your motherboard or something then it shouldnt matter.

[axis01]

Axis, surely most decent thermal compouns are conductive. Arctic silver is about 99% silver so I cant see it being an insulator. As long as you dont spread the stuff on your motherboard or something then it shouldnt matter.

No most decent TC's are TOTALLY nonconductive. Typically the all white ones are this way. AS5 is one of the few well known TC's that has been known to be somewhat conductive. It's not 99% silver either. My point is, you DON'T want a TC to be conductive. While MB manufacturers don't put stuff around the CPU, there's often contact points around the NB, SB, Moffsets, and PWM's. If you put too much on the chip, it will spread out onto them.

Axis

[Spawn-Inc]

(While much safer than electrically conductive silver and copper greases, Arctic Silver 5 should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads. While it is not electrically conductive, the compound is very slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridges two close-proximity electrical paths.)

[Conumdrum]

I think the OP means heat conductive. Yes, TIM paste and tape no matter what kind is heat conductive. Some are better than others. I use MX-2, one of the top ones, works well for me.

And I agree, the Aquagate setup is too small to cool a quad. Common usage for a quad is a 120x2 rad, and one that is of much better quality than the Aquagate.

[Bigdogbmx]

I didnt realise that, Ill take it back. The stuff Im using is some Antec which is 99% silver so I assumed Arctic silver was as well.

EDIT I got that wrong its 88% silver but the silver is 99% pure or something. They used tricky words the swines.